Kevin Wolf Quoted by World Trade Online on US-China Dialogue on Export Controls

For its article “Former officials: U.S.-China export control dialogue has limited benefit,” Inside U.S. Trade’s World Trade Online quoted Akin international trade partner Kevin Wolf. The article discusses the U.S.-China export control enforcement information exchange established in August.

Kevin, formerly Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration, Bureau of Industry and Security, said that a U.S.-China export controls dialogue is not new, as similar dialogues took place in the Bush and Obama administrations. And he said that the new exchange and the previous ones have “exactly the same objective”: education of attendees on what is allowable and what is prohibited under U.S. export control rules.

Kevin said that exchanging information is intended to enhance compliance, noting “More education is always better,” and that the principal benefit of the exchange would be the potential for more compliance.

In response to congressional Republicans’ criticism of Commerce for establishing the exchange, Kevin said that the dialogue itself has no risk for the U.S. because the country is only clarifying its rules and not negotiating anything away: “The people who do export controls know they’re non-negotiable and not chits to be traded off.” He added that export controls are never part of trade talks.

Finally, he pointed to the fact that the Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement is pictured next to the Commerce Secretary during her meeting with China’s commerce minister as visual confirmation that the administration is focused on export control enforcement in its talks with China.